Two months after taking down the top seeds in the Wimbledon semi-finals, Aussie duo Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson replicated another straight-sets victory against the same opponents to reach the final four of the men's doubles at Flushing Meadows.
81 per cent of points won on first serve for Purcell and Thompson propelled them to a 7-6(4), 6-4 victory against No.1 pairing Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.
“We want the title this time,” Purcell told Stan Sport after the win.
When Thompson was asked how they achieved another Grand Slam semi-final, the 30-year-old joked: "Jumping on Maxy's shoulders. [I was] a bit tired from last night. Demon [de Minaur] put me through my paces, so it was a bit of a battle for me to get up early but Maxy really helped me out."
They will test out the American partnership of 13th seeds Jackson Withrow and Nathaniel Lammons for a place in the final.
Men's Singles Results:
[12] Taylor Fritz def. [4] Alexander Zverev 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3)
[20] Frances Tiafoe def. [9] Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1 (retired)
Taylor Fritz has reached his maiden semi-final at a major after showcasing one of his best matches of the tournament to take down new world No.2 Alexander Zverev in four sets.
It marks back-to-back wins for Fritz over the German at Grand Slam level, coming back from two sets down to defeat Zverev at Wimbledon earlier this year.
Familiar with these big moments deep in Grand Slams, Zverev, the 2020 US Open finalist, was filthy with himself for how he performed, left wondering what could have been after multiple upsets blowing the field wide open.
“I don't remember since being on Tour hitting my backhand this badly. I just don't,” Zverev said in his post-match press conference.
“I was missing shots which were in the middle of the court with no pace in the bottom of the net. Terrible. Just absolutely terrible by me... I have no words for it to be honest."
For the first time since 2006, an American will contest the men's singles US Open final as Frances Tiafoe pulled through in unwanted circumstances.
33-year-old Grigor Dimitrov survived a five-set epic against Andrey Rublev a couple of nights ago, but the Bulgarian stepped out against Tiafoe with an injury niggle which forced him to pull the pin down 1-4 in the fourth set - dramatically quieting the New York crowd.
“Obviously it’s not how I want to get through, but I’m happy to be through," Tiafoe told Christopher Eubanks in his on-court interview.
"Another semifinal here. Incredible. It was a really high-level match. I like where I was at in the third, regardless. But I didn’t wanna end it like that. Especially for me and for the crowd.
"But you guys get to see me again against another American. Friday’s gonna be one hell of a day.”
Women's Singles Results:
[13] Emma Navarro def. [26] Paula Badosa 6-2, 7-5
[2] Aryna Sabalenka def. [7] Qinwen Zheng 6-1, 6-2
After knocking out Coco Gauff in back-to-back Grand Slam tournaments, the Emma Navarro train keeps rolling as the 23-year-old qualified for her first major semi-final against former world No.2 Paula Badosa.
Navarro somehow rallied back from a 1-5 deficit in the second set to clinch six consecutive games to prevail in an impressive display.
Badosa confessed in her post-match press conference that "losing a set from 5-1 up, I never did that before… I wanted to win so much, [but] sometimes that doesn’t help at all."
It means Navarro will face last year's finalist Aryna Sabalenka after the two-time Australian Open champion produced a frightening brand of tennis to overwhelm gold medalist Qinwen Zheng, dropping three games.
The pair met in the final at Melbourne Park in January as well as last year's US Open quarter-final where Sabalenka conceded five games in each contest.
The result means Sabalenka has won 33 of her 36 sets in Grand Slams in 2024.
“Against someone like her [Zheng], she’s [a] solid and aggressive player. Always tough battles against her," the 26-year-old said post-match.
"Having a quick start at the beginning of the match was really helpful and gave me so much belief that I could do really well in this match and I could get this win. She’s playing such incredible tennis. It was very tough facing her.”
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